Post by Adam Beck on Oct 22, 2017 14:22:28 GMT 9

It took a number of months (and finally, I admit, I got very tired of these books), but I just finished reading aloud the entire first series of Percy Jackson and the Olympians to my kids. That's five books and a total of 1708 pages, all at breakfast, day by day, in bursts of 15 or 20 minutes.

While I'm now happy to move on to something different, our experience of Percy Jackson provides a clear example of how a persistent read-aloud routine can gradually generate a wealth of language exposure!

Adam Beck is the author of the popular nonfiction books "Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability" and "I WANT TO BE BILINGUAL!" (illustrated by Pavel Goldaev) as well as the award-winning humorous novel "How I Lost My Ear" (illustrated by Simon Farrow).

Post by Joanna on Oct 26, 2017 14:00:54 GMT 9

I'm happy to report that I'm doing better with the read aloud challenge again. I try to start the bedtime routine earlier so I am more interested in spending time reading several books, and as silly as it might sound, I sometimes set an alarm on my phone for 15 minutes and read until it rings (at least). In this way I'm more present and motivated to read several books, and sometimes do 15 minutes both morning and evening.

This morning I go into work later, so I'm putting my routine aside and reading at breakfast when my little one wakes up. Another idea/tip is to pick out a collection of books on a theme: fall/Halloween and read them up to Halloween. We're reading Go Away, Big Green Monster, Who's Who in the Woods, Maisy Dresses Up, and Where the Wild Things Are.

Thanks for your motivation, it's helped me pick up the habit.

English speaking Canadian Mom, French speaking Dad, transitioning to minority language at home (English) with our daughter in France. Our daughter is doing great with English:) recently our son was born.

Post by Undraa on Nov 14, 2017 18:44:12 GMT 9

I had a challenge yesterday. My 4-year-old son really likes comic books. When we were in our ml country we got a series of comic books as a present from his cousin who is a lot older hence the book was also for an older audience. My son loved it anyway, and insisted that we start reading it. He loves it, even though I can see that he doesn't really get it at times. However, when he doesn't get it, he shoots me with thousands of questions to make sure that he understands. Yesterday, we went through a chapter where there is death involved. He started asking me a lot of questions where I had to spend a long time explaining. It really wore on my patience and I got frustrated with the complexity of the situation. I tried my best to explain and we ended the chapter but in the end he felt my frustration and asked, "Mommy, are you angry?" I said, "No I am just excited trying to explain all this to you." Then he started playing, repeating sentences from the book while he is fighting with his "sword".

I talked about the situation with my husband later. He said it doesn't matter whether he understood the story or whether we went through the book till the end. The most important thing is that there was a dialogue between me and him. And that exposes us to a huge ml opportunity that we will never get from any other circumstances. I agree with my husband but it was very hard for both of us. Should I stop reading this tough book with him and start looking for a book more suited to his age or should we continue with the same book he likes? Any similar experiences?

Post by Undraa on Nov 15, 2017 5:31:39 GMT 9

I got the answer to my own question. Tonight my son insisted I read the same story from the same chapter from yesterday. I read it again. Not many questions this time. Just a few questions to confirm that he is following and playing with his "sword" (Ninja Turtle toy sword) when I read the scene where there is a sword fight. Then he said "Mommy, thank you for this sword" after I finished reading. I think I did okay yesterday.

Post by Amy on Nov 15, 2017 6:05:36 GMT 9

I got the answer to my own question. Tonight my son insisted I read the same story from the same chapter from yesterday. I read it again. Not many questions this time. Just a few questions to confirm that he is following and playing with his "sword" (Ninja Turtle toy sword) when I read the scene where there is a sword fight. Then he said "Mommy, thank you for this sword" after I finished reading. I think I did okay yesterday.

Undraa , this situation illustrates well that sometimes only the children and time can give us the answer. I'm glad you got it so fast.

I have experienced this situation and persisted with the book; the only time I gave up was when I saw that my daughter lost interest in the story. As long as your child enjoys it and is not put off I think that's the most important thing. If he doesn't understand well but still enjoys it just keep on going, it is still exposure and after all... Who didn't once in their lifetime not understand a book's plot/storyline only to realise it later on in life when reading the book again?

Post by Adam Beck on Nov 16, 2017 9:05:00 GMT 9

Should I stop reading this tough book with him and start looking for a book more suited to his age or should we continue with the same book he likes? Any similar experiences?

My basic rule of thumb for books and other activities is: Follow the child's lead. In other words, if a child shows interest in something, I'll try to milk that book or activity for as much language input as possible. If the book is far above the child's level, I may not stick to the text as written and, instead, tell the story in my own words, words that are better suited to the child's language level and level of maturity at that particular moment. The primary thing, though, is making the most of our children's natural interests and passions to motivate their engagement and progress in the target language.

Undraa, it sounds like you and your husband handled this situation wisely and that the outcome was very fruitful for everyone! Well done!

Adam Beck is the author of the popular nonfiction books "Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability" and "I WANT TO BE BILINGUAL!" (illustrated by Pavel Goldaev) as well as the award-winning humorous novel "How I Lost My Ear" (illustrated by Simon Farrow).

Post by Carrie on Jan 19, 2018 5:30:41 GMT 9

In evaluating this challenge, I was pretty surprised to realize that I really don't read aloud to my kids as much as I thought I did. I think I've really slowed down in the last year or so. It's a combination of things - my daughter now reads chapter books and isn't as interested in the picture books her brother wants to read. I've had more kids, and they are all at different reading levels. I have continued to be proactive about getting new/regular ml books into the house, but I haven't been very good about reading them! I'm excited about doing this challenge starting this month, and hopefully continuing for the long run!

Post by Undraa on Jan 29, 2018 1:08:51 GMT 9

I am interested in how you do it Carrie. I have a 1 year old and 4 year old. The older brother is very domineering with his reading routine every evening with his sophisticated choices and demands. I have to force and announce that I also need to find time to read for little brother too.

Post by Carrie on Jan 29, 2018 12:06:57 GMT 9

I have read through a lot of your bilingual journey on this forum and I think you are doing an amazing job. Keep up the good work!

It is tricky when you have different reading levels. I’ve tried many different things and sometimes it goes better than others. Here are a few ideas to try:

1) Read at different times. So maybe to little brother at breakfast and big brother before bed. I currently read to my 2 year old before nap time, and my 5 and 7 year olds later. My 5 year old often likes to sit in on his younger brother’s reading time, which is fine, he just knows he has to wait to choose the book when it’s his time.

2) Let them take turns. Sometimes we read all together and each child gets a turn choosing a book.

3) Swap with your husband. Each of you read to one of the kids at the same time in different rooms and then after a certain amount of time trade places.

4) Put older brother in charge of “reading” a book to the younger one. My oldest loves to sit with the 2 year old and ask him tons of questions about the pictures in a book. (ie Where is the puppy dog? What color is the car? How many clouds do you count?) Your kids might not be quite old enough yet, but you could see if you could guide the oldest in how to do this for a page or two.

5) Break up the time you read to the youngest. Maybe five minutes right after breakfast and five minutes before bed. Sometimes shorter chunks of time are easier (both for the one year old’s attention span and the four year old’s patience).

Trust me, you’ll figure out the perfect routine and then two months later they will have outgrown it and you’ll need to shift to another one! I hope these ideas help you brainstorm something that works for your family!

Post by Adam Beck on Jan 29, 2018 17:59:44 GMT 9

Trust me, you’ll figure out the perfect routine and then two months later they will have outgrown it and you’ll need to shift to another one! I hope these ideas help you brainstorm something that works for your family!

Carrie, these are all excellent suggestions for maintaining a read-aloud routine with children of different ages.

And your point above made me laugh because it's so true! Our efforts--at reading aloud and everything else--must continually evolve to match the changing circumstances of our lives as effectively as possible.

Adam Beck is the author of the popular nonfiction books "Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability" and "I WANT TO BE BILINGUAL!" (illustrated by Pavel Goldaev) as well as the award-winning humorous novel "How I Lost My Ear" (illustrated by Simon Farrow).

Post by Undraa on Jan 29, 2018 18:18:24 GMT 9

Hi Carrie. These are brilliant ideas for inspiration. I will try splitting the time and possibly doing some planning. The challenge for me is I am alone in knowing the ml. You are very right though that the circumstances and the kids' needs are always changing.

Post by Marta on Feb 10, 2018 3:14:03 GMT 9

I tend to read to my children every day but there are sometimes where there would be something special that makes us skip it.

I read the book The Reading Promise that talks about a dad who started a challenge with his 9-year-old daughter to read aloud for 100 consecutive nights...that ended up being 3218!

So I told my 9-year-old son about the challenge and told him we could try for 100 nights. I printed a 100 board and we crossed each day and we did it! Both of us were very motivated so if for example we knew there was something in the evening and we would be coming home late we would then read in the morning. Now we are going for the next 100.

Post by Adam Beck on Feb 10, 2018 5:35:13 GMT 9

So I told my 9-year-old son about the challenge and told him we could try for 100 nights. I printed a 100 board and we crossed each day and we did it! Both of us were very motivated so if for example we knew there was something in the evening and we would be coming home late we would then read in the morning. Now we are going for the next 100.

That's fantastic, Marta! Thanks so much for sharing this big dose of inspiration! And all the best with your next 100 nights (and mornings)!

Adam Beck is the author of the popular nonfiction books "Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability" and "I WANT TO BE BILINGUAL!" (illustrated by Pavel Goldaev) as well as the award-winning humorous novel "How I Lost My Ear" (illustrated by Simon Farrow).

Post by Amy on Apr 12, 2018 5:17:19 GMT 9

I’d just like to share with you a different type of reading (if you don’t already do so ).

When my daughters (5 and 2 years old) have dinner before us, I read to them while they eat. However, owing to their age gap, they don't share the same book interests and my little one often grows uninterested and asks for another book of her liking.

We recently received My Encyclopedia of Very Important Animals and I gave it a try, reading it over dinner. I got a big surprise in that this book, with beautiful animal pictures, appealed to both of my daughters, and so far my youngest has not requested another book.

Another advantage is that the encyclopaedia format means each section is short hence if you have only a little reading time it's perfect.

Post by Undraa on Apr 13, 2018 18:21:51 GMT 9

Hi Amy,

We have similar experience with a dictionary. We found an English-Mongolian dictionary with pictures in depth. It shows the full anatomy of a human including how eardrums work, or full picture of a galaxy etc. My kids are loving it.

Post by Jennifer C on Jul 19, 2018 1:44:46 GMT 9

I’ve waited to respond on these challenges till I convinced myself that they have become thoroughly embedded in our daily lives and routine. One year ago today we took this challenge on and began incorporating a 15-30 minute bedtime story time into our ml activities. With a ml husband who is building his career and has little time currently, it was a challenge, but we’ve managed to keep to this routine even when apart, by my husband recording a little video of himself reading books to our kids which I play and turn pages if we are away from him, regular Skype time, and most often personal snuggles and bedtime stories every night we are at home. Now a year later I can’t remember what we did before this precious time. My husband has even improved in his translation skills due to on the fly ML to ml translations of library books every evening, ha!

Post by Adam Beck on Jul 22, 2018 6:37:54 GMT 9

I’ve waited to respond on these challenges till I convinced myself that they have become thoroughly embedded in our daily lives and routine. One year ago today we took this challenge on and began incorporating a 15-30 minute bedtime story time into our ml activities. With a ml husband who is building his career and has little time currently, it was a challenge, but we’ve managed to keep to this routine even when apart, by my husband recording a little video of himself reading books to our kids which I play and turn pages if we are away from him, regular Skype time, and most often personal snuggles and bedtime stories every night we are at home. Now a year later I can’t remember what we did before this precious time. My husband has even improved in his translation skills due to on the fly ML to ml translations of library books every evening, ha!

Fantastic, Jennifer! It sounds like the efforts that you and your husband are making to establish and sustain this vital routine have really paid off! It's a challenge, I know, to incorporate such ongoing routines amid our busy lives, but if the bilingual aim is truly important to us, we have to do our honest best to pursue these efforts each day, day after day after day.

About recording videos of the minority language parent reading books, singing songs, etc., this can be an effective way of "cloning" that parent in his or her absence. I did the same thing when my kids were small and I was working long hours and couldn't spend much time with them. For those that want to give this tactic a try, my post about it--The Busy Parent's Guide to Cloning Yourself--may offer some ideas and inspiration.

Adam Beck is the author of the popular nonfiction books "Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability" and "I WANT TO BE BILINGUAL!" (illustrated by Pavel Goldaev) as well as the award-winning humorous novel "How I Lost My Ear" (illustrated by Simon Farrow).

Mayken: We're at Harry Potter Book Night at the English bookshop in Paris. The activities are all in French but my daughter teamed up for the treasure hunt with a girl who also speaks ouf ml German!Feb 8, 2020 3:50:49 GMT 9

Amy: Was stunned to hear eldest had an anglophone (ml) accent when she began to read in the ML this afternoon!! Didn't last more than a paragraph until her brain switched language, but chuffed mum here!! Mar 7, 2020 23:05:49 GMT 9

Mayken: My daughter found the secret stash of ml books I'd bought at the closure sale of the ml book store two months ago and hidden away for later. Guess it's a good time for new books now, right?Mar 18, 2020 5:29:38 GMT 9

Caro C.: My baby (16mo) perfectly knows what "hi5" means and readily shows her hand even when we are not showing our hand first. It feels like the first minor blossom of the bilingual seed.Jun 1, 2020 13:05:36 GMT 9